Iga Swiatek finally has a rival who can help her take women’s tennis to the next level

Iga Swiatek’s rivalry with Aryna Sabalenka has the potential to take the women’s game to the next level.

That’s the verdict of former British No 1 Laura Robson, who spoke to Tennis365 in an exclusive interview to preview the French Open.

Tennis has been littered with iconic rivalries that have taken the game to the next level, with Martina Navratilova’s battles with Chris Evert and Bjorn Borg’s battles with John McEnroe in the 1970s and 80s still remembered fondly.

Then there was Steffi Graf’s battle with Monica Seles, Boris Becker’s grass court battles with Stefan Edberg at Wimbledon and the all-American clashes between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi that stirred the emotions.

For the last 20 years, men’s tennis has been dominated by the three-way battle for Grand Slam titles between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, with their compelling matches at the end of tournaments placing the trio at the heart of a golden era in men’s tennis.

The women’s game has lacked similar rivalries during that period, yet world No 1 Swiatek and No 2 Sabalenka are threatening to spark off a new interest in tennis with their duels.

Swiatek vs Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final was the best tennis match of 2024 and Robson believes there is much more to come.

“The final in Madrid is my favourite women’s match of the year so far and I’m sure most people would agree with that,” Robson told Tennis365 at a Eurosport and discovery+ event.

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“The conditions for their second final in Rome suited Iga much more as it was slower and the ball didn’t fly as much.

“Now we are looking at similar conditions in Paris to Rome, so it is hard to back against Iga being by far the No 1 favourite.

“There is no doubt that Sabalenka can test her, but Iga handles the expectations so well and she seems to enjoy pressure of being the one to beat.

“We want to see rivalries like this in women’s tennis and hopefully this will be a final we see time and again over the next few years.”

Swiatek and Sabalenka may be favourites to reach the women’s final at Roland Garros, with Robson backing the 2022 French Open runner-up to go close again.

“I’m not sure we can consider the US Open champion as a dark horse in the women’s draw, but I’m looking to Coco Gauff to have a good tournament at Roland Garros,” added Robson.

“I feel like she has more time on her forehand side on clay versus other surfaces.

“The conditions in Paris really suit her, as it will get a bit livelier and should get some free points on her serve.

“She is struggling with doubles faults a little, but we have seen how she can handle the pressure in big matches and that means she will always be a threat.”

Meanwhile, Robson’s fellow Eurosport expert and eight-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander has compared Swiatek to Roland Garros legend Rafael Nadal, as the Swede backed the Polish star to add to her haul of three titles at the French Open.

“Some days, some matches, you can see that she has certain limitations, but it has to be conditions that are terrible for her, and there are very few tournaments that are completely terrible for her,” said Wilander.

“There are very, very few players that are terrible for her, so I think that the confidence that she’s growing, winning all these clay court tournaments and taking one, two, three steps away from Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina and all the other women that are behind I think that’s going to really help her on other surfaces.

“To beat Iga on clay, because it’s a women’s tournament and it’s two out of three sets, is tough.

“She could run into Aryna Sabalenka, who will have an unbelievable one hour of tennis and suddenly Iga is down a set and maybe a break 4/2 and now you’re 10 minutes away from losing, even though you’re not playing bad. But there is a very, very, very small chance that that’s going to happen.

“I think Iga is as big a favourite this year as Rafa has been over all these years. Iga I think is going to win at least seven or eight Roland-Garros if she stays healthy.”

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